Statistically speaking…

Hemoglobin S and C

African Americans have an increased risk of inheriting sickle cell trait, the condition in which people have both hemoglobin A (HbA), the usual form of hemoglobin, and hemoglobin S (HbS), a variant. They also are at risk for having hemoglobin C (HbC), another variant. About one in 12 African Americans has sickle cell trait. African Americans are nearly twice as likely to have diabetes as Caucasians of similar age. About 13 percent of African Americans aged 20 years or older have diabetes.¹ Therefore, many African Americans have both diabetes and sickle cell trait.

Hemoglobin E

People of Southeast Asian descent are at risk for having hemoglobin E (HbE), another hemoglobin variant. Prevalence of diabetes in Asian Americans varies among subpopulations. Studies have shown that some groups of Asian Americans in the United States are 1.5 to 2 times as likely to have diabetes as Caucasians of similar age.¹

¹ National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIH). National diabetes statistics. Available at: www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/statistics/index.htm. Posted November 2005. Accessed July 5, 2007.